The present invention relates to a modular automated module for managing a plurality of cells, each of which, in turn, is suited to perform an operation on an electronic device. Said automated module is suited to be inserted into an assembly and/or testing line of an electronic device, comprising for example a PCB support of the PTH and/or SMD type. The present invention also relates to the method to actuate and control the automated module. The module according to the present invention is the final module of an assembly line to assemble electronic circuits.
Each module comprises a plurality of interchangeable and duly assemblable cells, wherein each cell can be associated with a specific actuation system, such as assembly systems, test systems and marking systems, which are interchangeable as a function of the cell to be provided and consequently of the module to be implemented.
Each module can be connected to one or more modules in a modular manner by providing series or parallel connections between said modules. Said connections allow the creation of a macro-module for performing certain operations, such as marking and/or assembling and/or testing operations, as a function of the electronic device coming from a manufacturing or assembly line.
The actuation method according to the present invention is the sequence of steps designed to fulfill the operating functions of each module cell, so as to determine whether the electronic device inserted into the module complies with the requirements. Said method allows the control and management of each single cell comprised in the module.
Assembly and test modules are known which, when positioned downstream of a line designed to wire and assemble an electronic device—normally of the SMD type, perform the functional and acceptance tests on the electronic devices manufactured by the line. Said cells can also be designed to perform, if necessary, the last assembly and marking steps on the electronic device.
Said modules are specifically designed for the testing or assembly of a certain electronic device. The stations or cells comprised in said modules are interdependent on one another, thus making the module stiff in terms of interchangeability of the actuation systems. Due to the impossibility to functionally change the single cells or stations, the module is exclusively suitable for the electronic device for which it was designed.
Said modules do not allow a quick functional change of the single station or cell because each station, and the module itself, are specifically manufactured to perform specific assembly or test functions on a specific electronic device.
No assembly and/or test modules for electronic devices are known which can be assembled with each other in a modular manner.
Furthermore, no modules comprising cells or stations are known which are connected to one another in a modular manner, wherein it is possible to change the sequence of stations or cells, and wherein the function of each cell or station can be changed by simply modifying the actuation system, for example the fixture associated therewith.
In the prior art, each specific module is controlled and managed by a data processing system which is suited to run the managing program of the predetermined module and is especially designed for the module itself. Said managing program is also normally used for the management of error signals.
In terms of software, due to said module management architecture, the module itself, and in particular the functions it can implement and the functions that can be implemented by the single stations or cells, are difficult to change.
No assembly and/or test modules are known which comprise a control unit having the ability to directly communicate with the single cell for the purpose of the correct operation of the module itself and also the ability to house new cells and/or remove cells and/or change a few functions of each cell or station, so as to adjust the module itself to other electronic devices than the ones for which it was originally designed.
The market is experiencing an increased demand for highly automated manufacturing or assembly lines which can assemble different electronic circuits, without for this reason disrupting the manufacturing or assembly line itself in order to allow the change of the electronic device to be assembled.
As already mentioned above, the most critical portion of the manufacturing or assembly line is the last module of the line, in particular the module designed to perform at least one test and the final marking of the electronic device. Making the module adjustable to different electronic devices is difficult because the final tests to be performed on the electronic device are highly specific for the single electronic device and are not easily generalizable to other electronic devices.
Furthermore, the market asks for the assembly line, and in particular the single modules, including the final test and marking module, to be highly flexible, to allow the single module and its functional features to be changed, and to be quick to assemble (both the cells and the module itself), so as to allow a rapid change of the functional features and immediately operationalize a module for a new electronic device. The same module is required to be able to handle different output standards.
The market also demands that the single module has a very high production speed, which is assessed by using the parameter called takt time, i.e. the ratio between an observation period of the assembly line and the number of compliant items produced by said line during the observation period.
This parameter is dependent: on the time required to move the electronic product among the different cells or stations comprised in a module; on the differences in the performance of the operations in the single cells, which may cause products to queue up in one or more cells or stations compared to others. Said parameter is, furthermore, a function of the possible faults of the single cells or stations of a module.
At present, no automated test and/or marking and/or assembly modules included in an assembly line are known which can be modified after having been manufactured, so as to adjust to performing other operations on an electronic device other than the ones for which the module was originally designed and assembled.
WO0225301 A1 discloses a testing system for automatic testing of circuit boards in a circuit board manufacturing line. The testing system comprises a set of test modules comprising a testing apparatus. Each test module comprises a horizontal module conveyor for conveying a circuit board into and out of the test module. The test modules are arranged in a superposed relation with respect to each other. The set contains test modules differing from each other so that the testing operations performed by these test modules are different from each other. A feed device has been fitted to receive circuit boards from the first line conveyor and to feed them into the test modules.